Late Night Phone Calls
by JustGrace13
Summary: Ulrich had the phone tight against his ear and he held his breath. He exhaled slowly as the ringing stopped and Yumi's voice mail greeted him, asking him to leave a message. "Hey, Yumi. I know it's late. I just wanted to call you back and…umm" YumixUlrich


Just a cute little ficlet for Yumi and Ulrich. Please review and enjoy!

Late Night Phone Calls

-9:08 p.m.

"Hey, Ulrich, do you have a minute? I want to ask you something. Um." The dark-haired girl stuttered. "What I mean is… You see, I've been thinking for a while now and I've decided that… Well, I've decided that I really like you. And so… Ugh."

Yumi examined her reflection and then put a hand over her face. A loud, exasperated sigh escaped her lips.

_I wouldn't go out with me either. _

-9:24 p.m.

"Hey, Odd? How did you get that girl from math to go to the dance with you so easily?" Ulrich was lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, trying to seem innocently curious. Odd sat up and looked at his roommate.

"I don't know… She was cute so I asked her if she was single." The blonde shrugged. "Why? You thinking about asking Yumi?"

"No." Ulrich scoffed and rolled over to face the wall. Odd grinned.

_Sure, good buddy, whatever you say._

-9:35 p.m.

01…41 87 20…0…0. Yumi's finger hovered over the green CALL button on her phone. Now was as good a time as any really. There had been no attacks today and Ulrich had seemed like he was in a good mood. And, of course, the Spring Formal _was_ this Friday.

Yumi closed her eyes and forced her thumb down. Her heart fluttered; she couldn't believe she was actually doing this.

She listened to it ring once and then quickly pressed the END button before it could sound a second time. Her breathing slowed, her pulse became less erratic, and she tossed the small object to the foot of her bed before she could do any more damage with it.

_Dances aren't really my thing anyway…_

_-_9:59 p.m.

"Your phone went off while you were gone. It only rang once though. I guess they decided that you really weren't worth talking to."Odd chuckled at his own joke as Ulrich entered the room, coming back from the bathroom. Who would call him at 10 at night?

_Unless…_

-10:02 p.m.

Yumi slid under the covers and pulled the large collection of pillows she had gathered over her head.

_Maybe I should just stay here forever. No one would ever find me. Maybe I can wallow in my humiliation in solitude. Or maybe I'll suffocate and when Ulrich wonders why I called, it'll look like X.A.N.A took over the pillows and killed me. I bet he'll wish he had asked me to the dance then._

-10:10 p.m.

"It was Yumi. Do you think I should call her back?" Ulrich looked over at Odd's sleeping figure. He sighed, looked at his phone, and then looked back at Odd. He tossed a pillow at his friend and repeated his question.

"No. I think you should ignore her, go to sleep, and live the rest of your life miserable and alone." Odd said mockingly. He threw the pillow back and returned to his sleeping position.

Ulrich rolled his eyes and pressed a few buttons on his phone. _Maybe this would be a good time to ask her about Friday… _

-10:28 p.m.

Yumi's phone rang loudly. Her head shot up out of an explosion of pillows. She reached for her phone, trying to find it under all the cushions.

_Oh shit… Where'd it go?_

-10:29 p.m.

Ulrich had the phone tight against his ear and he held his breath. He exhaled slowly as the ringing stopped and Yumi's voice mail greeted him, asking him to leave a message.

"Hey, Yumi. I know it's late. I just wanted to call you back and…um." He paused.

_It's now or never._

-10:30 p.m.

"No!" Yumi picked her now silent phone up from between two pillows and stared at it in horror.

_1 missed call(s)_

-10:31 p.m.

Maybe she had ignored his call. Maybe she didn't want to talk to him and she had only called him by accident.

_After all, she did only let it ring once._

-10:40 p.m.

Yumi giggled, pulling her knees to her chest, and pressed the REPEAT button again.

"_Hey, Yumi. I know it's late. I just wanted to call you back and…um."_ The speaker paused here and she could hear him clear his throat. _"Well. I kind of thought that… Maybe, if you didn't already have plans, we could go to the Spring Formal together on Friday. Only if you want, of course, I know sometimes you don't like dancing and we wouldn't have to dance, of course, but yeah... Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. Um. G-good night, Yumi."_

-8:05 a.m.

"Good morning, Yumi!" Aelita waved as Yumi walked up to meet her friends before their first class started. She smiled and returned the greeting. Ulrich's eyes watched her face carefully; his heart thudded in his chest. It skipped a beat when Yumi's gaze met his.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Yumi gestured away from the group. Ulrich nodded, stood up, and followed the dark-haired girl. He ran a hand over his chest. His heart felt like it might explode.

Odd grinned knowingly as he discreetly watched his best friend walk away out of the corner of his eye.

_Calm down, man. You can't take her to the dance if you have a heart attack now._

-8:07 a.m.

"So… What did you want to talk about?" Ulrich took a deep breath and rocked back on his heels awkwardly. Yumi stared at the ground for a moment before meeting his eyes.

"I… Yes. Ulrich, I would really like to go to the dance with you." She had a hopeful look on her face. "If you still want to, that is."

Ulrich grinned and nodded, his face slightly flushed.

"_Of course I do."_

-8:11 a.m.

"Hey, guys, check it out." Odd nudged Aelita and pointed at Yumi and Ulrich walking back towards them, hand in hand. He had just explained to them about Ulrich's late night phone call and how the brunette had kept him awake, allowing the blonde to hear the message his friend had left. "I guess she said she'd go with him."

Jeremie looked up from his computer and smiled at the pair while Aelita giggled and commented on how happy they looked.

Odd gave his friend the 'thumbs up' sign and then looked mischievously at Jeremie and Aelita.

_Now if we could just get Jer-bear to do the same thing…_


End file.
